Janet Muirhead Hill

Biography

Janet Muirhead Hill is the author of thirteen published novels for children ages 8-18. She co-authored curriculum units to adapt the novels for use in classrooms and home schools.

Hill has presented many writing and publishing workshops across the state and in Colorado and Oregon. She is available to present workshops to fit one, two, three, four, or five days of instruction depending on the needs and time schedules of her sponsors and students. She has conducted many one-day school visits in Montana and Colorado, and has plans for longer residencies. She wrote and published comprehensive workbooks for use with her three, four, and five-day writing workshops. She is listed in the Artist's Registry of the Montana Arts Council.

Her published children’s and young adult novels include the award-winning Miranda and Starlight series of eight (soon to be nine) books, Danny’s Dragon, a Story of Wartime Loss, winner of the Eric Hoffer Award, and a trilogy about twins, separated at a young age and searching for each other. Kyleah’s Tree, a finalist for both the High Plains Book Award and USA Book News, Best Book Award, is the the girl twin's story. It's companion novel, Kendall's Storm, silver medal winner of the Moonbeam Award, is the boy twin's story. Kendall and Kyleah, is the third book of the series completes their story. Her book, Call Me Captain has been renamed, The Body in the Freezer, and is a story about a 13-year-old rich kid who is both smart, and smart-mouthed searching for his place in the world—and finding when forced to "volunteer" in a homeless shelter.

Hill calls the writing she does “true fiction,” because, she says, “My goal is to tell the truth about the human experience, its dilemmas, natural responses, and emotions through fictional characters; characters children relate to; characters who will help them better understand themselves, giving them comfort and encouragement in their own lives.”

Ms. Hill spends much of her free time enjoying the outdoors, her horses, and most of all her family, which includes eight grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. She writes and publishes from her home office in rural Montana near the Madison River.

Where to find Janet Muirhead Hill online

Where to buy in print

Books

A Twist in Time
Price: $7.00 USD. Words: 72,710. Language: English. Published: January 1, 2023 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Drama
Two thirteen-year-old girls, one from the 20th century and one from the 21st, happen to be at the same place at the same time (day and hour) and with a twist of fate are violently spun to through time to trade places. Confused and alarmed, they find themselves in a foreign setting, albeit the same place they entered, only 100 years different. They must adjust and desperately try to get back.
Hattie's Horse
Price: $6.00 USD. Words: 45,010. Language: English. Published: May 5, 2021 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Family
13-year-old Hattie Thompson goes to live with her grandmother on her Montana ranch when the coronavirus pandemic causes her Boston school to close. Her parents who work in a Boston hospital, want her safely away. Hattie loves staying with Gram and her horse, Dusty. But who knew the pandemic could last so long? When her hose goes missing, causing her guilt and grief, she learns a hard lesson.
Prism
Price: $8.00 USD. Words: 65,220. Language: American English. Published: April 7, 2020 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » General
Debra Randall, is still missing after two weeks of intense investigating. Lieutenant Pat Garrigan of the San Francisco PD is baffled. Debra's father, her best friend, and her lover are all devastated, but keeping secrets known only to them. None of her possessions—except for her prized pyramid-shaped prism, which seems to be associated with her secret seizure-like spells—is also missing.
Horses Forever: A Miranda and Starlight Story
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 59,360. Language: English. Published: July 1, 2017 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Adventure
To race or not to race? That is the question Heavenly Acres Horse Ranch owner, Miranda Stevens, struggles to answer. “Racing is what your horses were bred for,” Higgins, her old friend and trainer, reminds her. Miranda must decide whether to risk injury or deprive Starliight's offspring of what they seem to love? What if her boyfriend, and co-owner of the fastest horses disagrees with her?
Horses for Sale, a Miranda and Starlight Story
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 47,620. Language: English. Published: May 18, 2016 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Literary, Fiction » Coming of age
Will sixteen-year-old Miranda Stevens make it as a horse rancher while struggling with the demands of high school, the tragedies of life, and affairs of the heart? She's giving it her best shot, but she's not above making bad decisions and reaping the consequences.
The Horse and the Crow: A Miranda and Starlight Story
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 64,480. Language: English. Published: May 28, 2015 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Children’s books » Animals, Fiction » Children’s books » Animals » Pets & domestic animals
This is the 7th book about a Montana girl and her horses. 14-year-old Miranda is haunted by a feeling of foreboding, which disappears when she gets to the Crow Fair, where she plans to race her horses. She is completely unprepared for the dangers and discoveries that will hound both her and a ten-year-old Crow boy named Teddy, who aspires to be like Plenty Coup, the last great chief of his tribe.
Danni
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 61,050. Language: English. Published: April 28, 2015 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Social Issues
On probation, living in a group home, and doing her best to turn her life around, Danni Beaumont, high-school junior, is suddenly plunged into a nightmare that seemingly won't end, when a gang rape results in an unwanted pregnancy, and the perpetrators threaten harm to her beloved little sister if she does anything that might expose them. Rape and abortion issues: Not for children 12 and under.
The Body in the Freezer
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 57,500. Language: English. Published: June 26, 2014 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Social Issues, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Thriller & Suspense
A rich, arrogant teenage boy, meets a homeless girl with a secret. He is determined to learn what her secret is, but when he finds out, he wishes he hadn't. It changes the course of his life.
Kendall and Kyleah
Price: $6.00 USD. Words: 54,690. Language: English. Published: August 18, 2012 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Social Issues
Twins, separated by divorcing parents when they were four, have led very different lives in places hundreds of miles apart. Yet they have longed to find each other for the past eight years. This book continues each of their stories as circumstances and seeming tragedies lead their paths to cross a last.
Danny's Dragon: A Story of Wartime Loss and Recovery
Price: $6.00 USD. Words: 40,210. Language: English. Published: December 2, 2010 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Children’s books » Fiction
9-year-old Danny can't believe his father's died in the Iraq war. He blames himself and his horse, Dragon, for his loss. His family, torn apart by grief, is losing their Montana ranch. Danny hates Denver and the large school where an Iraqi is his classmate. At first he wanted to hate his horse, but when Dragon is lost, he only wants him back. Dragon and a wise teacher help heal his broken heart.
Starlight Comes Home
Price: $6.00 USD. Words: 51,190. Language: English. Published: November 25, 2010 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Adventure
Junior high is complicated. 13-year-old Miranda Stevens decides she prefers her equine friends—until Mr. Taylor, who owns the controlling half of Starlight, the country's fastest race horse, takes him to a horse sale without telling her. Or so she thinks. But if he didn't take her horse, who did? Mystery and angst, friendships won and loss, birth, death, heartache and joy test Miranda's courage.
Starlight Shines for Miranda
Price: $6.00 USD. Words: 41,750. Language: English. Published: November 24, 2010 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Children’s books » Fiction
Twelve-year-old Miranda Stevens is late for her parents' wedding because of a mishap while riding her beloved black stallion, Starlight. Miranda races Starlight against the clock to raise money for a horse for Margot. When he wins, Mr. Taylor takes him to race in Texas. Starlight refuses to eat and loses weight until Mr. Taylor sends for Miranda to help. Adventure and discovery await her in Texas.
Starlight's Shooting Star
Price: $6.00 USD. Words: 40,010. Language: English. Published: July 26, 2010 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Children’s books » Fiction
In this 4th book of the Starlight series, Miranda and her classmates become lost in a cave. Miranda saves Grandpa from being killed by a loco cow, but not before he is injured. Mr. Taylor hires a jockey, expecting Miranda to teach Starlight to accept him. Mom plans to marry Adam, Miranda's worst enemy. Wishing on Shooting Star, Queen's foal, seems to bring amazing answers to Miranda's problems.
Kendall's Storm
Price: $6.00 USD. Words: 45,350. Language: English. Published: April 26, 2010 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Children’s books » Fiction
(5.00 from 1 review)
Ten-year-old Kendall’s life is not only unpredictable; it's a mystery. Why can’t he and Dad live in one place more than a few months? Why the all-night drives, the tucked-away motels, always leaving things behind? What is Dad's job? Kendall only knows two thing for sure: He's afraid of just about everything—and Dad hates cowards. Can a rescued puppy and love from a stranger change his life?
Starlight, Star Bright
Price: $6.00 USD. Words: 37,310. Language: English. Published: March 31, 2010 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Children’s books » Fiction
11-year-old Miranda Stevens secretly trains Starlight, the 3-year-old black stallion, whose wounds have healed. Miranda rides him and proves that he is the fastest horse Shady Hills Ranch has ever seen. But she must keep it secret. If his owner, Cash Taylor, finds out, he will never let Miranda buy him. When Starlight throws others who try to ride him, Miranda's hopes rise only to fall again.
Starlight's Courage
Price: $6.00 USD. Words: 35,270. Language: English. Published: March 7, 2010 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Children’s books » Fiction
In this sequel to Miranda and Starlight, ten-year-old Miranda Stevens takes it upon herself to rescue the black stallion Starlight, not once, but twice. While competing in a horse show against arch rivals, Christopher's mare, Queen, is attacked by a madman. When no one will believe Miranda that Starlight is in danger, she must find a way to save him on her own.
Miranda and Starlight
Price: $6.00 USD. Words: 33,050. Language: English. Published: January 13, 2010 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Children’s books » Fiction
Miranda Stevens thinks that if she had a horse of her own, it wouldn't matter that she has to live with her grandparents and go to a school where she has no friends. She impulsively accepts a dare to ride an unbridled horse in a nearby field. The dire consequence of that action begins a chain of advenures that test her courage, spawns unexpected frinedships, and teach lessons in honesty and trust.
Kyleah's Tree
Price: $6.00 USD. Words: 39,820. Language: English. Published: December 7, 2009 by Raven Publishing of Montana. Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Adventure
Wishing on the sunrise from her treetop refuge, eleven-year-old Kyleah clings to the hope of finding her twin brother and attaining beauty to please the father who abandoned her. When her foster parents bar access to her favorite tree, she runs away with her foster brother, Benjamin. They experience many narrow escapes and breathtaking adventures on their journey from Kansas to Moose Jaw, Canada.

Janet Muirhead Hill's tag cloud

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